Fully bespoke service in any style required by the bridal couple. From vintage postcards to modern line prints….we create designs as unique as our clients.

Where does your inspiration come from?

As our service is bespoke, a lot of our inspiration comes directly from the client. We’re given a brief and then work within those guidelines to produce something which perfectly matches and exceeds expectations.

Any tips on wording etiquette?

Sticking with tradition and having the Bride’s parents hosting gives your invitations a classic look. However, this doesn’t suit everyone. For example, if the couple already have children, it’s lovely to include them in the wording, requesting your guests join them to celebrate the wedding of their ‘Mummy & Daddy’. Alternatively, the couple may prefer to host the wedding themselves.

If you have any requests, such as the exclusion of children or dress codes at your wedding, ensure this is included on your invitations so that guests are made aware of your wishes.

Any tips to those thinking of DIY stationery?

It can be very rewarding to add personal touches to your wedding day, but be prepared to give up many hours to making your own Stationery! Keep things simple and classic and you’ll end up with a stylish suite of stationery which your guests will love.

How far in advance should you order?

I recommend booking as soon as you can. I get booked up very quickly, so ensuring your date is booked in to my diary is very important. Depending on the complexity of the design you choose, orders can be made at short notice but I would advise leaving at least 4-6 weeks for your stationery to be created.

Trends for 2011?

I think we will see many more lace designs, inspired by Kate’s dress at the Royal Wedding. Summer brights and florals will remain popular and the pretty EnglishCountryGarden theme with muted pastel shades will be inspiring many vintage style weddings.

What makes you different?

As well as offering stationery products from Invitations to Orders of Service, we also provide a whole host of reception accessories. This includes personalised confetti cones and stands, hanging ‘Just Married’ signs, Keepsake boxes, Guest books, Candy Buffet tags/labels etc, designed to perfectly compliment the theme of your stationery.

Most popular invitation?

Currently our Passport invitations for abroad brides are hugely popular. Available in an array of colours or our sought after aged, Vintage-style. Featuring our signature design or the UK crest, these have matching BoardingPass RSVPs and Luggage Tag Gift List details to continue the travel theme.

For UK brides, we’re working on transforming our Passports into mini books with matching bookmark RSVP.

I offer contemporary, stylish handmade stationery. I have a range of embellished and printed designs available on my website. All of my stationery can be personalised to any colour shades, specific wording and fonts that my clients choose. I always say that anything is possible! I also offer a bespoke service where I design a one off unique design for a client. Recent themes have included Italian and Hollywood glamour!

Where does your inspiration come from?

My inspiration comes from everyday life, from people, places and things around me – I’m also a complete perfectionist so that’s often what keeps me going right to the end!

Any tips on wording etiquette?

There are different ways to word your invitations in particular depending on your situation. It’s more traditional to have the invitation coming from your parents, more modern for the couple to invite their guests. We have suggested wording for all of our stationery items so don’t worry if you get stuck with it.

There are also ways to subtly ask for money for a gift instead of a gift list, and also to say you don’t want children at the wedding – always tricky subjects! Most of all it needs to be right for you, there’s no point being too formal if that’s not what you’re about! We’re always here to help so just ask.

Any tips to those thinking of DIY stationery?

I do understand that many want to try DIY stationery to keep the costs down. You’d be surprised how much time and effort you will spend making your own stationery, you’ll often find that our stationery is cheaper than if you made it yourself (if you took into account all of those lost hours!)

I would say to think about what is really important to you, and consider getting something like a table plan done professionally as these can look stunning at the venue and become part of the décor itself. Also you may wish to think about a number of invitations for close friends and family who you know would like a keepsake of the special day. Many of my clients have told me that people have framed my invitations and cards because they’re so special to them!

How far in advance should you order?

We take orders at any distance from your wedding. Typically you would order save the date cards just after you’ve set the date, particularly if it’s at a busy holiday time or mid-week. Invitations can be done as soon as you know the details, they are generally sent out around 2-3 months before the wedding date, so you need to add on time for us to make them beforehand!

Having said that, many of my previous clients have sent out invitations 6 months before the wedding, and others just a few weeks! Any ‘on the day’ items (i.e. menus, order of service, table plans etc) can be ordered nearer the wedding, we generally ask for information for these around 6-8 weeks before the wedding once guest lists and menus are confirmed.

We offer a discount on postage and 10% off orders over £300, so you may wish to order everything at once, and get a discount there too. If you do this we split the order, so get invitations done first and then a second batch nearer the wedding of those on the day items. We always get very busy over the summer months, so if you know you want to order with us – get it in now!

Trends for 2011?

There’s a few things that we keep seeing so far in 2011. The colours we’re using on the stationery in particular, purples are definitely the most popular at the moment!

Of course the recent Royal Wedding will definitely have an impact on us designers, we’re thinking about a lace design very soon, let’s see how it goes!

Otherwise definitely seeing an increase in vintage style, bunting and English country garden themes which have been lovely to do.

The classics have always remained popular here at Cards by Sophie, I think after all that is what a lot of people want for their wedding, simple elegant designs and that’s where we fit right in!

Based on qualifications and experience we can offer you a highly professional service with first hand knowledge of the whole process. We began our business as a client and designer (and friends!) so we can really relate to our clients specific needs and requirements.

Bonnie Blackbird is more than just a business to us; it is a chance to channel our creative and cravings whilst helping other Brides to create their perfect day. We truly believe that life is too short to not do the things you really believe in (which is how we became to create BB in the first place) and your big day is a once in a lifetime experience to be remembered in as many ways as possible. Your stationery is the first ever peek at your big day so it’s vital that it leaves the right impression!

At Bonnie Blackbird we offer a completely bespoke service, catering for a variety of Brides, from Modern Elegance to Vintage Kitsch. We also offer a range of packages to suit any budget, from our design only Bronze package to our fully printed and mounted Gold service and feel that this allows our clients total freedom in the design of their wedding stationery.

Where does your inspiration come from?

Everyday surroundings, nature, and reading through current creative blogs. Reading positive quotes gets us really prepared to work that much harder when we feeling like we need a little extra ‘kick!’

For the most part though, our inspiration comes from the Bride and Groom. The anticipation and excitement when we meet clients for the first time, and the ideas that get thrown about during the initial consultation really help us to get a feel for the relationship and style of the couple, which in turn really gets the creative juices flowing!

Any tips on wording etiquette?

From the outset, we would advise you to decide how formal or informal you wish your event to be. It’s important, in our view, that your guests get an idea of what’s to come simply from the tone of the invites and the wording.

Any tips to those thinking of DIY stationery

Plan. Plan. Plan! Creating your own DIY stationery can be hard work and time consuming. We recommend that you source reliable suppliers for the materials and rope in a few friends to help with any mounting or embellishments. Above all though, enjoy it and take your time. At Bonnie Blackbird we are true believers in the stationery you send being an indication of the quality and style of your Big Day, so make sure you take the time to give your stationery the effort it deserves!

How far in advance should you order?

Ideally we ask clients to approach us approximately 4 months before the invitations should be sent, to allow time for any necessary amendments, printing and mounting and to also give us time to fully embrace the design concept and, if necessary, source suppliers. However, we understand that not every wedding is planned in military fashion and can process urgent orders as quickly as possible as long as we have all the information we need.

Trends for 2011?

Honeysuckle colouring is a big hue for this summer’s season and polka dots are coming in later in the year, taking inspiration from the resurgence in vintage trends. We find that Wedding trends always find their inspiration in fashion with a current love for the 1950’s and 1970’s styles; bold florals or fruit prints and textures are particularly big. You can never undervalue the timeless trends either, with and white on whites or ‘nudes’ being popular throughout the year.

This week will be dedicated to stationers. How else would you let your guests know whats occurring and when? From the get go, you use a stationers skills to embody the theme and aspirations for your day. When a guest receives their save the date they get their first glimpse into your wedding.

It’s a part of your wedding planning that shouldn’t be taken lightly. I think if you are crafty by nature then you could do your own stationery, but be prepared for long nights, fiddly ribbons and errors. Plenty of errors. I personally made my own save the dates, realised what an effort it was, then bought the rest because for me, the low cost didn’t outweigh the time and skill required to create something that I would be proud of. After all, they were going to mantlepieces around the world.

I hope that the blog posts this week give you an insight not only into how many fantastic suppliers there are to choose from, but how personal your stationery can be. They will appear in alphabetical order to show no favouritism, although I do love them all.

At the end of the week, I will attempt to make a completely original invite and tell you how long it takes to make just 1. I’d like to think I am quite the craftswomen so I reckon it will be a breeze…just like the cupcakes.

Please note this mood board is rustic nautical rather than jaunty seaside. There’s a big difference. I would love to go to a nautical themed wedding. I adore navy and stripes. Think dusty browns and ancient blues with an accent of muted red or yellow. Very Ralph Lauren.

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Im not sure if we can get away with hay bales at a wedding in the North? It’s eco-friendly, very cheap and reusable. Obviously one couldn’t throw some hay bales in to a country manor and ask everyone to take their seats, but if you having some form of outdoor, countryside related wedding then do it. Then invite me. I’ve never sat on a hay bale.

This topic shouldn’t be taken lightly. To fake tan or not for your wedding day? Should THE most important day of your life be marred by the scent of eau de fake tan?

Just don’t do it. Especially if you have a wedding from September through to May. Pale and interesting will always look beautiful compared to tinge de l’orange. Only do it if you can guarantee that you will look naturally bronzed, that it wont rub off on dress and that you wont look back in your photos and think “why the eff “.

If you don’t usually fake tan, why would you do it for your wedding day? Yes you may not want to look washed out and pale, but you could just exfoliate, body buff then apply Benefit’s Bathina. Think glowing. If you feel you REALLY have to, use Garnier’s summer body…just one coat, it does what it says on the tin.

SO are you fake tanning for your wedding? Let me know if you did and what your thoughts were.

And I would have my original wedding bandMaslow because they were outstanding.

On writing this post I realised there was so much to choose from. Yorkshire is filled to the brim with fantastic suppliers for any type of wedding and it would be a wonderful place to get married. After all, everyone loves plentiful green landscapes of rolling hills. Flat-caps and whippets are optional.

Can you guess the confectionary inspiration for this mood board? Yes, ’twas some mini eggs. They are addictive. Also, there aren’t enough in a bag, I’m not being glutinous, I am just merely stating that they aren’t really are sharing (bingeing) bag.

Did you all have a lovely weekend? Are you getting royal wedding fever? Bunting-a-go-go!

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Welcome to So You're Getting Married, a blog dedicated to bringing you daily doses of pretty things from around the wedding world. I also feature beauty, home interiors, fashion, and recipes. For more information about my freelance work please see above.